Out of bounds? Not necessarily

Campaigns use kids as they see fit

ST. PAUL, MINN. -- Since Monday, the chorus from Republicans on TV news and in the halls of the convention has been resounding: Back off and let the Palin family be.

"That's out of bounds," said Minnesota's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty. "There's no need to be intrusive and pry into that."

Yet Wednesday found the following scenes unfolding:

* Sarah Palin's pregnant, unmarried 17-year-old daughter and probable future son-in-law stood in a nationally televised, politically packaged airport receiving line to meet and greet the Republican candidate for president.

* The extremely cute and bubbly Piper Palin, 7, made her debut on her mother's behalf, appearing in a video on John McCain's daughter's blog. "Vote for my mommy and John McCain," she said, giggling as Meghan McCain grinned.

* Bristol Palin and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Levi Johnston, were were expected to appear together as part of the GOP political narrative at the convention Wednesday night.

The Republican message about the Palin offspring can seem contradictory: Hey, media, leave those kids alone -- so we can use them as we see fit.

"Either the children are out of bounds, and you don't put them in the photo ops, or you complain when somebody wants to talk about them. You can't have it both ways," said John Matviko, a professor at West Liberty State College in West Virginia and editor of "The American President in Popular Culture."

"Right now, it looks like they're being used by the campaign more than the media are using them," he said.

Though candidates for national office, and those close to them, are under more intense scrutiny than ever before in the American information culture, there is more to this situation than simple celebrity chasing.

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are two young people figuring out how to get through a difficult personal situation. Under normal circumstances, they would be allowed to do so unbothered by global scrutiny.

One big obstacle stands in their way: Sarah Palin.

Yes, she has asked the media to "respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition." Yet Palin has packaged herself as a PTA member and "hockey mom" -- culturally loaded terms calibrated to evoke appealing images of middle America, the middle class, exurbia and strong 21st-century family values.

Risky business

Using one's family as an accessory in the political arena can have its pitfalls. Candidates open themselves to charges of hypocrisy if they demand the ability to boast but reject the attention that can ensue when the road gets rougher.

Barack Obama said flatly that the Palin kids should be "off limits," but he has engaged in the same thing -- though to a much lesser extent.

In July, he and wife Michelle appeared on a four-part "Access Hollywood" interview with daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7. Obama later expressed regret about his decision to put them forward, saying, "I don't think it's healthy, and it's something that we'll be avoiding in the future."

Nevertheless, the Obama girls appeared on stage twice at the Democratic National Convention last week -- once to talk to their father via video hookup after their mother's speech, and again after Obama accepted the nomination during the convention's climactic moment.